We Recovered N1.4trn Bad Debt – AMCON Boss

The Managing Director/CEO, of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru has said the Corporation has recovered about N1.4trn, which comprises of cash N681bn; Property Forfeiture N279bn; Share Forfeiture N140bn; and other strategic assets N208bn.

Similarly, a total cash recovery of over N116.9bn has been recovered on Polaris EBAs from date of acquisition to date.

The AMCON MD/CEO spoke at this year’s edition of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking, and Currency retreat with the Management of AMCON among other stakeholders in Lagos

Kuru who was represented by Mr Matthew Coker who is AMCON’s Group Head, Asset Management Directorate told the lawmakers that despite the Special Powers as provided by the new AMCON Act, it still struggles with the implementation due to the country’s’ judicial system.

He said, “The Corporation’s recovery processes at this point majorly depend on the Judiciary i.e., Obtaining Possessory Orders or Orders for sale. The slow pace of our court processes and sometimes conflicting orders by the Courts, especially at the Federal High Court (FHC), which is our Court of first instance, frustrates recovery process. There are delays in obtaining dates in the Court to hear AMCON matters.

“Deposit of judgement sum as provided for in the act is not enforced by the Courts, some of the obligors are still active contractors of the government. They carry out businesses with government with debtor company names or other pseudo names and the BOFIA Act that provided for a Special Tribunal on recovery and enforcements would have hastened the adjudication of our matters in Court if the Judiciary had constituted a task force specifically in that regard.”

Federal House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Banking and Currency, Hon. Victor Nwokolo disclosed that the National Assembly would as a matter of urgency summon the leadership of the various key committees that are overseeing the different agencies of the federal government to investigate why the Inter-agency Committee on the recovery of the huge outstanding debt owed the AMCON are not working as directed by the Presidency.

Nwokolo said it is sad that agencies of the federal government of Nigeria work at cross-purposes rather than collaborating to ensure that they support the federal government.

He said the national assembly would in no distant time organize another retreat which would involve about six critical stakeholders to discuss in great details the strategy that would be adopted to ensure that Nigeria recovers its money.